Trion Worlds announces the launch of RIFT in North America and Australia (since it's Wednesday there already), saying the fantasy-themed MMORPG will launch in pan-European countries on Thursday and in the U.K. on Friday. Word is: "In Rift, the world of Telara is under siege from eight primal forces after the magical ward protecting the planet shatters. Joining either the technomagical Defiant or divinely-appointed Guardians, players assume the role of an Ascended hero brought back from the dead to fight the planar invaders and save Telara. Featuring an innovative class-building system, massive dynamic battles in an ever-changing world, and incredible social gameplay, Rift enters the online gaming arena as the new gold-standard in MMORPGs." The announcement is accompanied by a "This is RIFT" video developer diary where Trion's Scott Hartsman, William Cook, Bill Fisher, Simon Ffinch, Gavin Irby, Aaron Hooten, and Andrew Krausnick team up to explain zone-wide events, the player rewards for participating in these epic battles, and other gameplay elements. The embedded trailer follows.

It is a very "safe" game for the devs. Few little inventions here and there, but nothing drastic. For someone whos new to the genre it should be great, but for anyone bored of WoW / WAR its only marginally different at this point. I however do hope the game does well as the genre needs some solid competition to drive innovation.